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An executive summary from Zonar noted that the average time for Columbus City Schools bus drivers to complete an inspection was just under seven minutes, but the time budgeted was 15 minutes. Cutting the budgeted time to 10 minutes led to an annual savings of $110,000.

BESI Inc. receives national certification as a women's business enterprise from the Ohio River Valley Women's Business Council, signifying that the company is at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled by a woman or women.

Cherokee County School District is installing the systems at the second of four fueling sites for the county's 392 school buses. The turnkey solution includes Gasboy Atlas dispensers, Islander PLUS fleet management systems and Gasboy Fleet Head Office management software.

To offset its budget shortfall, Aurora (Neb.) Public Schools reduced its stops from 100 to 70, with drivers now making more group pickups as opposed to door-to-door stops. Transportation Director Gerad Olsen tells SBF that the department’s routes are more efficient and that the bus drivers are happier making fewer stops.

Illinois Central School Bus Co.’s service to five school districts in Winnebago County, Ill., has gone smoothly this school year, with buses on time and routes followed correctly. District and bus company officials met over the summer to better prepare and help avoid late busing and other problems that occurred during the last school year.

Hurricane Irene, which caused extensive damage on the East Coast over the weekend, brought to mind the need for school bus operations to have procedures for just such an emergency. The Florida DOE's hurricane outreach plan document is available to download.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn approves the bill, which requires bus drivers to submit to drug and alcohol testing if there is a reasonable suspicion that the driver is under the influence. Drivers who fail or refuse to submit to the test will have their school bus permit suspended for three years.

Greg Gallagher serves as area general manager of the contractor's northern New Jersey region. Gallagher works closely with local management teams and oversees operations for locations throughout the region.

Transfinder's Infofinder i enables parents to see their bus stop information on their district's website. At peak usage on Aug. 22, Infofinder i handled 235,952 address searches and 3,407 simultaneous requests per minute. This was a 30-percent and 42-percent increase over last year, respectively.

The agency says it is denying the petition because it has “not found a safety problem supporting a federal requirement for lap-shoulder belts on large school buses, which are already very safe.” The petition for rulemaking came from the Center for Auto Safety and 21 other groups.

The Type A school bus manufacturer receives the 2011 Pollution Prevention Award from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Collins has implemented programs to recycle wood pallets, cardboard and other waste material, and made changes to its water test quality assurance operation that reduced water use by over 400,000 gallons per year.

Council Bluffs, Iowa, experiences heavy rain and the school bus stalls after the driver goes through water that is deeper than it seems. Lewis Central Community Schools officials say it’s unclear whether any action will be taken against the driver, as they have not yet talked to the driver about the incident.

John Fothergill notices something is wrong under the hood of his school bus while on a route and stops. Officials at the Iowa district where he works thank Fothergill for safely evacuating the students on board before flames came up under the engine compartment onto the windshield.

The school bus routing software provider expands its quality assurance team to include Betsy Edson as quality assurance manager, Sean Klemme as quality assurance specialist and John Adams, who was promoted from technical support specialist to quality assurance specialist.

Shiquita D. Reed is convicted of disorderly conduct for an incident on May 17 in which she blocked a school bus with her car and yelled profanity at the bus driver, telling him he couldn't keep her daughter off the bus. The day before, Reed brandished a gun at the bus stop. She told police it was because another student had teased her daughter.

Rockland Board of Cooperative Educational Services in West Nyack, N.Y., put into service the two vehicles from Collins Bus Corp. last week. The buses were purchased through a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority award funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Clean Cities program.

With the start of the school year, the School District of Collier County (Fla.) is sending its transportation trainers to elementary schools to deliver important bus safety messages to kindergartners. The first-time riders practice a bus pickup and are given a guide to take home.

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